Bravo injury hands TKR captaincy to Pollard

The Trinbago Knight Riders have appointed Kieron Pollard captain for the 2019 Hero CPL season. They came to the decision after Dwayne Bravo injured his finger during practice and could miss a significant part of the season.

Pollard was picked in the 2019 Player Draft as TKR's marquee player and the Trinidadian is set to represent his home franchise for the first time in the CPL.

Venky Mysore, Director of TKR said,

“It’s a very unfortunate injury and Dwayne Bravo will be greatly missed. However, we are fortunate to have someone of the calibre of Kieron Pollard to take over the reins from Bravo,” said Director of TKR Venky Mysore.

“His leadership abilities are well proven and, like Bravo, will bring a very aggressive style as captain in TKR’s quest for a third championship in a row”.

Pollard said he was happy to be able to stand in for the mercurial captain of the three-time champions.

"I am standing in the shoes of the entertainer, Dwayne Bravo. I have been waiting for a long time to be made a part of this special team and I am happy to finally be here,” Pollard said.

“This year, a couple of new guys like me have been given the opportunity to be a part of this great franchise. We are looking forward to putting in our best and lifting the title once again in 2019."

The Trinbago Knight Riders will start their campaign with a home game against St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots on Wednesday, September 4.

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Guyana Amazon Warriors continued to match Trinbago Knight Riders win for win at the top of the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) table after subjecting St Kitts & Nevis Patriots to a trial by spin at Warner Park.

The Warriors and Knight Riders have both now won four from four after this all-too-easy seven-wicket victory for the Guyanese side.

Imran Tahir (2/17) and Qais Ahmad (3/28) led a four-man spin attack for the Warriors that reduced the Patriots to 53/5 and, although Shamarh Brooks engineered a recovery of sorts with a well-made 34 from 25, the innings fell away after he departed, seam finally making an impression as Keemo Paul took the last two wickets in the space of three balls. A final total of 121 was never going to be enough and was immediately put firmly in perspective by a 24-ball 49 from Brandon King at the top of the Warriors chase.

He smashed three fours and a huge Hero Maximum over midwicket from Sheldon Cottrell’s second over to make it clear the Warriors were not about to linger over chasing down their target.

And when the Patriots tried some spin it didn’t work quite as well as it had for the visitors, with Fabian Allen’s first over taken for 16 – including two more big sixes for King.

He was run out one short of a half-century from the final ball of the Power Play, but it mattered little. By then the Warriors were already 64/1 and over halfway to their target.

Shimron Hetmyer toe-ended Mohammad Hafeez to long-off for just a single looking to keep the attack going, prompting Chandrapaul Hemraj and Warriors skipper Shoaib Malik to throttle back and make sure nothing went wrong.

Hemraj edged behind off Rayad Emrit for a watchful 22, leaving Nicholas Pooran (19*) to apply the finishing touches alongside Malik (24*) as the Warriors got home with 25 balls to spare.

The start of the game was delayed by a brief shower and when play did begin the Warriors had got through four overs and three different spinners before a seamer was seen.

The tactic paid off, with Devon Thomas bowled by Chris Green’s first ball and just 19 runs on the board after the first four overs from Hemraj, Green and Tahir.

And even when the quicker bowlers did come on, it was still the spinners making the difference. Evans had stroked four fours in reaching 26 and was looking dangerous when he was superbly run out by a direct hit from Tahir at short fine-leg.

With the seam bowling of Romario Shepherd and Paul proving relatively expensive, Malik turned to the fourth spinner in his ranks with instant reward as Qais Ahmad had Hafeez caught for 14 by Hetmyer at long-off in his first over. Tahir then trapped Jason Mohammed plumb lbw for just 4 to reduce the Patriots to 51/4 in the 9th over.

The Patriots took the bold decision to promote left-hander Dominic Drakes to number six in a bid to counter the leg-spin threat on the back of his record-breaking 34 not out – the highest ever T20 score by a number 11 – against Barbados Tridents last time out.

It didn’t work. He was dropped by Hetmyer on nought but caught by Ahmed two balls later to give Tahir a second wicket off an eventful over and sum up a night to forget for the Patriots.

The playoff double-header for the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League has been confirmed as taking place in Guyana for this season. This means that there will be seven Hero Caribbean Premier League matches taking place in Guyana, with five group matches and the crucial playoff games which will decide which teams head to the final.

This year will see all four teams who make the knockout stages of the tournament featuring in matches taking place on Sunday 6 October. The first match on that day will be the Eliminator which will see the 3rd place team play the 4th place finisher. The winner of this game will play the loser of Qualifier 1 in the semi-final on Thursday 10 October.

The second match of the day is Qualifier 1 which will see the first place team after the group stages take on the side who finished second in the table. The winner of this game will go straight to the final on Saturday 12 October 2019.

Pete Russell, the COO of Hero CPL, said: “We are blessed to get to bring games to Guyana where the fans are out of this world. The playoff matches were a huge success last year, and with the games being a double header there will be even better value for supporters as they will get to see two games between the four best teams on one day. We know the support we will get from Guyanese fans, at both the group games and the playoffs, will be second to none.”

Director General, Hon. Joseph Harmon, MSM said: “We are very pleased to have the Caribbean Premier League returning to Guyana in 2019. The tournament has made a huge impact, showcasing our beautiful country to viewers around the world as well as creating jobs locally. We are delighted that the proud and passionate Guyanese cricket fans can look forward to this world-class spectacle this season. With seven matches, including the two crucial playoff games, Guyana will be at the heart of the tournament in 2019.”

PLAYOFFS

Sunday 6 Oct

Eliminator – 3rd v 4th, Providence, Guyana

Sunday 6 Oct

The records were sent tumbling again as the Jamaica Tallawahs crashed to a fourth consecutive loss in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) following a 41-run defeat at the hands of the Trinbago Knight Riders.

With a new record total for the CPL set only a few days ago by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, the Tallawahs were once against on the wrong end of a chastening evening a new high mark was set, with Knight Riders compiled 267 for 2.

At the top of TKR’s batting order, Collin Munro and Lendl Simmons delivered a devasting stand for the visitors, which stunned Sabina Park into silence as they combined for 124 runs. Munro eventual total of 96 from 50 balls, featured 8 towering sixes, which again left the dispirited Tallawahs with plenty to consider. Simmons, in the meantime, slapped 86 from 42. In four losses to date, the team’s struggling bowling attack has conceded somewhere in the region of 868 runs. On Friday, with Sunil Narine being the only other casualty when he was dismissed for 20, the bowlers endured another torrid outing.

In what was always going to be a steep pursuit, the Tallawahs got off to a good start with openers Chris Gayle and Glenn Phillips combining for 88 without loss. When Gayle was bowled by Mohammed Hasnain for 39, however, the task became mission impossible.

Next, at the crease, Chadwick Walton never managed to get set as he was dismissed for 6 and things fell apart when Rovman Powell headed back to the pavilion with an injury after hitting a six off the second ball he faced.